It was time to upgrade our 5-yr old 26" Bravia KDL, and since I  wanted to get something with network capability (and a slightly larger  screen) the 32EX724 seemed to fit the bill nicely.

Unfortunately, the picture quality of this model is simply poor, indeed bordering on unacceptable.

Any  viewing at an angle of 30 degrees or more gives a grey washed out image  with some slightly false colouring. Our living room shape means that  most viewing is at this angle. Only one person sits directly in line.

On first using the set, the image was too dark to see  much at all, and the "vivid" setting merely caused colour bleeding  without really making the image much brighter.

I discovered (with help from other forums) that the  default setting for these sets has "Eco" mode on, and in particular  "Light Sensor" set on. Turning this off made a big difference, but only  to the person sitting square on to the set. Surely the default setting  should be the normal mode, not the Eco mode! How many calls do the Sony support team get for this issue alone?

Our old Bravia had a vastly superior picture, albeit not HD - is this the price of progress?

As part of the registration process, I was asked to  complete a questionnaire on my opinions of the set. Some of these ask  the rather smug question about brand vs price - would I pay more for a  respected brand? Well, no longer, Sony! If I pay a premium price, I  expect premium quality - simple as - and this set ain't it.

Are we all expected to sit clumped together in a room straight in front of the set to get a decent picture?

Unless someone here can suggest something dramatic  (and I've tried all sorts of scenes and tweaking of the colour,  brightness and contrast controls), this set is not fit for purpose. A  shame really, as the feature set is superb, but this counts as nothing  if the picture itself does not cut the mustard.

Oh, while I'm at it, the sound quality of this £500+  set is really poor - it's tinny with inadequate ability to refine it  into anything remotely resembling hi-fi. Think "budget laptop". Also  think "I need to buy a decent audio system when I buy this set".

Any new Sony set I purchase will be conditional on a  28-day home trial. Nothing less. Sorry, Sony, but your utter reliance on  brand loyalty rather than product quality has almost certainly lost you  a future customer.

But I live with the faint glimmer of hope that this  set is rescuable by the tweaking of some setting deep in the bowels of  the config screens or a mysterious firmware upgrade....